The present invention is directed to an exhibit system and more specifically to a light-weight portable exhibit system having readily detachable interfitting parts including an illuminated header and rear illuminated modules.
At various trade shows it was customary for exhibiters to set up a booth or display stand on their allotted floor space to provide a suitable backdrop or actual means for supporting their product. The cost of such a booth or display stand has traditionally been extremely high due to the cost of materials for constructing the stands and the high cost of the union labor employed in transporting the booths or stands from trade show to trade show, carrying the stands in and out of the convention hall and assemblying and disassemblying the display stand in the hall. Such display stands or exhibit booths are conventionally made of wood framing having a plywood or fiber board sheath thus requiring the services of a carpenter not only in the initial construction of the parts but in the assembly of the parts at the exhibit site. Such exhibits when disassembled are still very bulky and heavy. Thus, sturdy packing crates are required for shipment and generally such exhibits must be shipped by truck. Thus, standard exhibits of this nature are expensive to build and ship, awkward to handle and time consuming in assembly and disassembly.
In recent years, lightweight portable display stands have become increasingly more popular with exhibitors due to the fact that they may be readily assembled and disassembled without skilled labor and can be stored in shipping cases for transporting from one location to another. In general, such displays comprise a series of light-weight interchangeable components, primarily in the form of panels, which when assembled can form a display booth or a series of interconnected display panels. Such displays, in various sizes ranging from a so-called tabletop display to full size floor displays. By having a series of interconnected panels, the displays may take different shapes so as to accommodate this display to the space available or to particular needs of the exhibitors.
Conventional modular displays generally include a plurality of vertically extending panels which are interconnected by means of vertically extending hinge arrangements so that the panels may be angularly oriented relative to each other so as to be self-supporting. The vertically extending panels may be of varying heights and may be vertically spaced from the floor and from each other by means of interconnected supporting frames. Lighting units supported on horizontally extending arms are available as well as shelves which are adapted to protrude from the supporting frame work for the vertical panels.
In lieu of a framework to which the panels may be secured the vertically exending panels may be provided with integral hinges so that upon folding the vertical panels relative to each other the panels will be free-standing. It is possible to achieve different variations in the configuration of vertically extending panels by stacking vertical panels and joining them by means of interlocking notches formed in the top and bottom edges of mating panels. Horizontal shelving may be provided which will rest on the upper edges of angularly related vertical panels.